Kingdom Hearts, Keyblade Chronicles
by Kiekesuke
Summary: Ten years after the events of Kingdom Hearts II, this story follows four characters chosen by fate to do away with a new evil plaguing the Mythos. I would greatly appreciate reviews of any kind.
1. Kites Prologue

Kites revised prologue

"Kite, you need to get up, you'll be late for school," his mother yelled from the bottom of the stairs, from behind she heard a voice that startled her.

"You know I've been up for like, an hour now," Kite said, his blonde hair spiked in every direction, his pale face and piercing green eyes leered around the room, leaning against a doorway with a sandwich in his mouth.

His mother clutched her chest, "you scared me, why do you always do that?"

Kite sighed and walked towards her, "you'll be ok mom," he said as he put his hand on her shoulder. "So, have you heard anything from dad, he's been gone almost a week now."

His mother sighed, "you know your father, always at the laboratory."

"Yeah, sounds like him, did he find something new?"

"He won't tell me, just says its important; he's been so distant lately," his mother told him, looking distressed.

"I'm sorry, I guess I should be off to school," he said, grabbing his blue and yellow uniform jacket, "I'll stop by the lab later and check on him." Kite walked out the door, his friend Raine was waiting outside for him. Her shoulder length brown hair swayed in the wind over her school uniform.

"Morning Kite," she exclaimed with a smile.

"How long have you been waiting here?"

"Uhm," Raine thought to herself for a minute, "about twenty minutes."

"You know you could have knocked on the door and been let in," he told her, head resting in his hand.

"I didn't want to bother you."

Kite started walking down the street, "it seems like more of a bother to find you waiting for me outside waiting for me," he chuckled, Raine quickly followed after him.

As they walked to school they talked about the recent supernatural occurrences that had been happening in Dawn town, Heartless had started popping up and everyone was uneasy. Mercenaries had been called to deal with the rising threat, but without a keyblade wielder, all it did was impede them. His father had been attempting to research an alternate way to destroy the Heartless, but kept such a tight lock on his research, only he knew anything about it. A dark cloud had been looming over Dawn town for days. The city was ripe with tension and fear as the denizens looked onto what seemed like a bleak future. The Heartless had been keeping to themselves in the alleys and outskirts of the city, never coming out into plain view, but their sounds echoed through the empty streets, making their presence known. As they neared the school they noticed a giant crowd outside the entrance.

"What's going on here?" Kite pondered, he saw his friend Jade squeezing out of the crowd of highschoolers, Jade's face lighting up when he saw them, he ran over to them.

"Guys, you have to check it out, there was a heartless attack," he said fearfully.

Raine shivered at the thought, "Really, Heartless... here?"

"Yeah, they attacked one of the teachers."

"What about the mercenaries in town, I thought they were keeping it under control," Kite interjected.

"Seems the shadows got past them," Jade said, rubbing his arm.

"Think they'll cancel school today because of it?" Raine asked.

"Either way, I'm going home, I have a bad feeling about today," Kite said as he turned around, "cmon Raine, we're going to my fathers lab."

Raine looked back at the school, "I.. I don't know if we should."

"I think I'll just stay here... yknow, safety in numbers," Jade said.

"Suit yourself," Kite replied, walking away as Raine followed behind. The sky over Dawn town had darkened exponentially since Kite left that morning, and cold air raged through the streets, an eerie omen could be felt by all. "Raine, I think this world's going to collapse," Kite said suddenly after what seemed like hours of silence as they made their way closer to his father's laboratory.

"Why do you think that," Raine murmured.

"Last time I saw my father, he was acting distant, I followed him to his study and listened through his door, he was talking to someone. He said this world was doomed, and that he couldn't complete his research, the person with him... just laughed." They had ended up in an alley way not too far from his father's lab, but the clouds over Dawn Town had thickened, blanketing their world in darkness, from the shadows peered small yellow eyes which seemed to multiply with each passing moment. "H.. HEARTLESS," Kite yelled, extending his hand to keep Raine back away from them. He frantically looked around for anything that could be used as a weapon, a few feet away from him lay a metal pipe on the ground, he quickly ran over and grabbed it. Poised and ready, he looked back to Raine, "It's not too far from here, I'll try and hold them off, make it to my father's lab."

Raine hesitated for a moment, "please, don't let yourself get hurt," she cried. Kite turned back to her with a confident stare.

"Cmon, have some faith in me as a swordsman."

Raine nodded her head, "A..alright." she said as she took off past the Heartless emerging from the ground. Kite slammed the pipe on the ground, echoing a metallic screech throughout the alley.

"COME ON YOU BASTARDS, I'M RIGHT HERE!" Kite charged at the Heartless as they leaped from the ground to attack him. Raine looked back from the distance, Kite seemed to be holding them off and she could see his father's lab. Kite tore through the Heartless with the pipe, clearing away their numbers with each swing. As soon as a path was cleared he darted towards Raine, "GET INSIDE, I'LL BE RIGHT THERE!" Raine opened the door to the lab, waiting for Kite to get to her, the Heartless poured out of the alleyway chasing after him. As soon as Kite made it inside, she slammed the door shut, Kite pressed himself against it, holding back the Heartless on the other side. Kite jammed the pipe between the handles to the door, barricading themselves in. The lab was in a state of disarray, papers and notes scattered all over. Kite walked around, and noticed the bodies of several mercenaries on the floor.

"What happened to them," Raine gasped.

"Probably Heartless," Kite said, kicking one over to reveal his chest. There was a large gash, several inches deep, "or maybe not, that looks like a weapon wound, I can't tell."

"How can you be so calm."

"Honestly, I'd have to say its the adreneline." Kite laughed, He then scavanged through the bodies laying around the room for a more suitable weapon. Under the body of one mercenary, he discovered a katana, still sheathed and undamaged. "this will do nicely." As he inspected the lab more, he found an untouched book, bound in black leather with the word FATE stitched onto the cover.

Kite stared at the book, he lifted it off the table, it felt heavier than a book of that size should have, he opened the book, one half of the book was hollowed out, containing a link of black chains that seemed to radiate with an unknown power. Kite read aloud the passage on the other page.

"The Chains of Fate, they are the sister artifact to my own Chains of Destiny. They seem to bind everything in the universe to Darkness without being an inherently evil artifact. The resonance between the two seems to inhabit me from wielding them both. Further study needs to be done on an individual that can wield the awesome power of these chains, but no suitable host's have been found, I must travel to other worlds looking for a pawn to use this power so I may further my research." Kite flipped through the other pages, but it was all formulas and phrases Kite couldn't understand. He slid his fingers over the chains, his hair stood on end as a chill ran down his spine.

"Kite.. I don't think you should touch that." Raine muttered.

"I'll be fine, don't worry, its just.. a little daunting," Kite reassured her, picked up the chain, holding it up with two fingers, a feeling of power surged through him, he tossed the chain up and grabbed swiped it from the air, as he clutched it, a dark wave pulsed through him, the chain wrapped around his hand and fused into his hand. Pain shot through in waves, bringing him to his knees.

"KITE! Whats going on," Raine cried. He squirmed on the floor, screaming as chain burst forth from the back of his hand, wrapping up his arm slowly, causing excruciating amounts of pain to shoot through his body.

"R..Raine... ," Kite gasped, slamming himself into a nearby desk. The contents of the desk spilled over him. Kite watched as the chains fused into his skin, darkness pouring out of them. He struggled to get to his feet; the pain overwhelmed him. Raine ran over to him crying, he hands shined a gentle blue aura which washed over Kite, the pain subsided, and he got to his feet. "How did you do that," Kite panted. The chains had completely spiraled up his arm with a few chain links dangling off the top of his hand

"I.. I don't know, I was so scared. I just wanted to help," she sobbed. Kite's arm twitched in pain.

"At least its bearable now," he said between gasps of pain. The Heartless had completely surrounded the lab at this point. "I don't know if we can fight them," Kite said to himself.

"What are we going to do," Raine asked.

Kite slipped the sheathed katana into his belt, "I don't know, but I'm sure its gonna be messy." He looked down at his hand, the chains seemed to be pulling in the direction of the Heartless, trying to guide him. His armed moved on its own, grabbing the pipe jammed into the door.

"Kite, what are you doing," Raine said frantically, back away from the door. Kite slowly pulled the pipe our of the door, and that chain instantly latched onto it, a dark flash enveloped the room, as their eyes adjusted, Kite looked down and saw the pipe had transformed into a Keyblade. The guard was a menacing pair of black wings with a Katana hilt, the blade was that of a purple and black longsword, with a spiraling flame as the teeth.

"Fates... Aligned." Kite muttered looking down at his new weapon.

"What was that," Raine responded.

"It just.. popped into my head, I think that's it's name," he replied, eyes fixed on the keyblade. The Heartless continued to slam into the door, and the lock wasn't going to hold for long. Kite stared back at the sea of Heartless and lifted up his Keyblade and pointed it at the door, a beam of light sprang forth, unlocking the door. He unsheathed his Katana, "Let's rock," he said calmly. The door flew open, Heartless flooding in. Kite dropped his center of gravity low and flipped his Katana around in his hand, blade parallel to his arm. He swung his Keyblade upward, sending a powerful shockwave, blasting back the Heartless and breaking the door off it's hinges. Putting all his strength in his legs, Kite dashed out, slashing his way through the Heartless, releasing all the stored hearts into the air. Kite panted as he cut through the sea's of Heartless, "Is this the power of the chains?" All the pain had been washed from his body, replaced with power he had never felt before, it was almost intoxicating. His blade cleaved through the enemy like water, each swing feeling stronger than the last.

"What's going on with him," Raine asked herself, watching with fear as she saw Kite wade through the swarm. The Heartless started to retreat, fearing Kites power. He stood in the middle of the street, sweat pouring down his face, trying to catch his breath. There were gashes all over his body, but none deep enough to cause him to slow down.

"It.. It's safe," he shouted, Raine ran over to him.

"What just happened, how did you do all that?"

"I.. don't know, I just felt this power and I knew nothing could stop me." Kite looked down at his Keyblade, and concentrated, it vanished in a flash of black light. He clenched his fist, staring at the chains running up his arm.

"Does it still hurt?" Raine asked.

"No, it stopped," Kite reassured her, he started walking forwards, "C'mon, we need to find my father."

The darkness had completely engulfed Dawn Town, Heartless were spawning everywhere, and bodies littered the streets.

"Do you really think this world will be consumed," Rained asked as they walked the streets.

"My guess is it's already happening, look at the carnage," Kite said sternly, keeping up pace, the chains on his arm seemed to be leading him, pointing him in the direction of the town square. As it came into view, Kite saw only two figures, one dressed in a long labcoat, and the other with what seemed to be armor that only covered part of his body. Kite ran off towards the square, and the figures came into better view, the one in the labcoat was his father, but something was different, on his left arm he saw chains spiraling up, similar to his, but the most illustrious tone of white, under his labcoat was no shirt, but on his chest he saw a giant eight pointed star.

"So son, you made it?" his father said with a chuckle, but his tone changed when he saw the Chains of Fate running up his arm, "Went into my lab did you?"

The other man walked up, his hair was a crimson red with black tips, he wore jagged pauldrens and waist plates with a tattered cape hanging off of it, and armored boots with a red and black design; the same eight pointed star could be seen on his chest. "That's your kin I assume?" he said, almost hysterically, "he looks like a challenge."

Raine got behind Kite as the three conversed.

"Dad, what's going on here," he threw up his right arm in front of him, "and what the hell are these!"

His father laughed, "Hard to believe my useless son was one chosen by fate itself."

Kite glared at his father, "What happened to you?"

"I awoke, cleansed of my needs for earthly desires, all I crave is knowledge now."

"Get on with is Knowledge... I want this world to bleed," the armored man said to Kites father.

"Hush Slaughter, things just became complicated, don't kill my son, otherwise, consider this world your playground." Knowledge said as he turned around.

"No you don't," Kite said, summoning his Keyblade.

"GRAVIGA!" Knowledge yelled, turning around, instantly Kite and Raine fell to the ground, crushed by their own weight.

"Hnnnrggg... when'd he learn magic," Kite coughed out, he couldn't fight the spells power.

"Have fun Slaughter," Knowledge said as he snapped his fingers, a dark portal opened up and he stepped through.

Slaughter knelt down next to Kite who was still struggling, "Hey kid, I hope you like to bleed."

The effect of the spell wore off, and Kite brought himself to his feet, "I'll end you," he replied, drawing his Katana.

Kite and Slaughter stared each other down, Slaughter licked his lips menacingly.

"Well c'mon kid, make yer move," Slaughters body slumped over, poised for attack. Kite gripped his Keyblade, he knew it was unwise to attack an opponent he knew nothing about, but there didn't seem to be any other option.

"You asked for it," Kite shouted, he jumped back and threw his Keyblade, the chains on his hand multiplied as the weapon was flung farther. Slaughter swatted the Keyblade away, not a scratch on him.

"You'll have to do better than that." he laughed maliciously. Kite pulled the chains and brought his Keyblade back to him, he snarled at Slaughter, charging at him, weapons ready for attack. As he closed in on Slaughter, he noticed a change in his expression. Slaughter raised his body, his chest bubbled, and shot forth spears jutting out of his chest. Kite couldn't think fast enough, the spears stabbed into him, knocking him back. Kite clutched his wounds and got to his feet. "Awe, I thought you were going to be fun," Slaughter snickered, moving his hair out of his face.

"Kite, stop fighting, we have to get out of here," Raine shouted as she ran up to him.

"I have to Raine, I need to learn what happened to my dad," Kite said, coughing blood.

Slaughter stood up straight and starting hysterically laughing, "He's not your father anymore kid. He put his soul into his research, and wouldn't ya know it, the research kept it. He's the Avatar of Knowledge now, one of the Soulless."

Kite stared back at Slaughter, trying to understand what he was saying. He heard a noise from behind him, a small fleet of Gummi Ships flew through the sky's. "About time," Kite gasped.

"I'm getting sick of waiting... SOMEONE NEEDS TO BLEED!" Slaughter yelled, charging at Raine, his arm quickly morphed into a black blade. Kite quickly dashed in the way, Slaughter stabbing him in through chest, grabbing his arm, Kite kept Slaughter in place. "So the kid wants to be a hero and save his girlfriend," Slaughter said, eyes fixed on the blood pouring out of Kite. Kite gritted his teeth and pulled up his Keyblade. "Whatever your planning kid, it won't work."

Kite slammed the pommel of his Keyblade into Slaughters temple. The blade went back into his arm as he stumbled back in pain, "Looks... like it did," Kite weakly smiled, he slumped to his knees, all his strength was fading.

"You.. cocky... little... SHIT!" Slaughter yelled, he curled up his torso, his back starting bubbling, moments later, wings shot forth. "I'll play with you later, count your days kid, I know I will," Slaughter said, his wings flapping powerfully, and flew off. Kite's consciousness was fading, Raine ran up and caught him in her arms.

Tears flowed from Raine's eyes, her hands glowed a soft blue and she clutched his wounds. Heartless started to rise from the ground, peering at her with their beady eyes. She clung to Kite with everything she had. The Heartless started advancing, slowly inching towards her. She pursed her lips, they were closing in.

"GO AWAY!" She cried at the top of her lungs, a column of light shot forth from her body, shooting into the sky. The heartless were destroyed by the Holy energy erupting from her. Off in the distance, her beacon had not gone unnoticed.

Sora peered off of a distant rooftop, seeing the giant pillar of light, his gold trimmed blue coat waved in the wind. "What could that have been?" he wondered to himself for a minute. He jumped off the rooftop into the alleyway below it. In the alley were several young Keyblade wielders, fighting off the Heartless that were infesting the streets of Dawn Town.

A boy approached Sora with jagged white hair and scars across his face, he was wearing a white collared vest with a pauldren draped over his left shoulder, white cargo pants and leather boots, holding a Keyblade in the shape of a red Dragons snout with protruding teeth. "What is that Master?" he spoke up, the other young Keyblade wielders turned to look at the light.

"I don't know Rei, but we should check it out." Sora said, summoning Oathkeeper into his hand. Rei signaled for the other Keybladers to advance.

There were five in total; there was a solemn girl with auburn hair that flowed down to her shoulders, she wore a leather corset with a long black dress that draped down to her ankles. Behind her was very serious man, sporting a leather flight jacket and army fatigues, his wild black hair was pulled back into a ponytail and a toothpick stuck out from his mouth. Beside him was a confident looking woman with long blonde hair and green eyes, she wore an armored coat that draped down to her knees. Tagging along behind them all was a goofy young man with a bandana wrapped around his short orange hair, he wore a Hawaiian hooded shirt with pants that came down to mid calf. They were all students under Master Sora's tutelage in the ways of becoming a Keyblade Master.

The boy with the orange hair and bandana spoke up, "Ya think someone got a Keyblade sir?"

"You need a Keyblade Master to do the Writ of Succession, so it's unlikely Artur," the Auburn haired girl responded, her name was Estelle.

"True, but a strong enough heart can summon it's own Keyblade," the blonde woman said back to them, she was known as Katarina, "That's how I came to wield Phoenix Tears."

"Let's just shuttup and find out." the man with the black hair said from behind them all, his name was Rikti.

"No need for that Rikti, the pillar shot up about a block from here, so lets get a move on," Sora ordered, picking up the pace.

Raine clung to Kite with her entire being, she barely even took notice to the holy energy that had just erupted from her body. Footsteps echoed from a nearby alley, she turned, from the darkness emerged six humanoid shapes, but through her tears, she couldn't make out any details about them. "Please," she cried, "my friend is hurt, can you help him?"

Sora motioned for his pupils to stay back, "Miss, are you two alright, I'm Sora, and we're in the process of Evac'ing this world." As Sora walked forward, he noticed the Keyblade clutched in Kites hand, the pool of blood he was laying in. He pulled up the collar of his jacket and started speaking into it, "Dale, do you copy?"

A noise responded from a device on his collar, "~~zzzzt~~ YESSIR Sora ~~zzzzt~~"

"I need my private Gummi ship to land at my current location, and send one for my students, I'll send the beacon now," Sora responded, he lifted his Keyblade into the air and shot a beam up. "It's going to be alright ma'am, can I get your name?"

"I.. I'm Raine.. and this is Kite, he was injured by... a monster.." she replied, staring at Kite.

Sora looked concerned, "Can you tell me what kind of Heartless it was?"

"It... it wasn't a Heartless," Raine replied, "Or a Nobody... it called itself... Soulless."

Sora gave her a confused look, "Alright, we'll talk more in the ship," Sora said as Highwind hovered over the town square. "Alright men, lets move out."

Kite awoke in a flash of pain, his chest burned like an inferno. He was soaked in a cold sweat. He looked around the room, he was on a small cot, in a room filled with computers, and desks, and all sorts of weird furnishing. There were bandages wrapped around his chest, he grazed over them with his fingers and it all came rushing back to him, the wound underneath those bandages, the chains spiraling up his arm. Across the room, lurched over on a desk, was Raine, she looked to be asleep, Kite tried to utter her name, but couldn't find the strength. The door to the room opened, and an elderly man with a long grey beard and blue robes walked in with an astonished look on his face.

"By jove. The boy is awake," he exclaimed walking over to Kite, "you must be famished, here, drink this elixer, it should give you your strength back." Kite weakly extended his hand to grab the potion, the old man placed it firmly in Kites grasp and kept a hand on it, helping Kite get it to his mouth. As soon as the liquid touched his lips, Kite felt a surge of revitalizing energy surge through him, and then gulped down the rest, he felt amazing, as if that battle had never happened.

"Thanks... who are you?" Kite gasped after he finished the bottle.

"I'm the Master Wizard, Merlin, and I don't think you've had the chance to properly introduce yourself either boy," Merlin chuckled.

"I'm Kite..." he responded, still getting a feel for his new environment.

"It's a pleasure to meet you my boy, I'm sure you have a lot of questions, so I'll go grab Master Sora," Merlin said adjusting his robes, "Tata lad!"

Raine stirred from her sleep, "K..Kite, are you awake?" she asked him half asleep.

"Yeah," Kite replied, still looking around.

At the sound of Kite's response she raised her head almost instantaneously, "Kite, you're ok!"

"Yeah, I guess I am... what happened, where are we?"

"You've been out a couple days Kite.. our world... it died..." Raine uttered with tears streaming down her face.

"What do you mean, how... Merlin mentioned Sora... Sora saves planets... how?"

"He came too late Kite... he only had time to evacuate some people.. we were lucky he noticed us."

The door opened and Sora peeked his head through, "Hey, good to see you're awake, how are you feeling, I had some questions I wanted to ask you."

"...get out..." Kite said, making sure to avoid eye contact with Sora.

Sora advanced towards Kite's cot, "hey, I know you just woke up, but, I need some questions answered."

Kite smirked and glared at Sora, "How about... you answer one of my questions first?"

Sora looked back at him confused, then he sighed, "Sure, what is it?"

"Dawn Town sent distress signals for weeks... why didn't you ever come?"

Sora raised his eyebrows, "It's not that simple kid, there's a lot of procedures required to come to a world with a Keyblade squad."

Kite seethed with rage, "Why didn't you help us?" he yelled.

" , please stop," Raine muttered.

Sora sighed, "Look, kid, I know it's rough, you just lost your world, but I just need you to answer some questions." Kite swung his legs off the cot and stood up, his joints ached, all he was wearing were a pair of sweat pants and the bandages wrapped around his chest. "Will you comply then?"

"Yeah... sure," Kite said with a smirk.

Sora smiled back, "Glad to see you want to cooperate, now what did yo-" he started, but before he could finish Kite threw a punch right into his chest, knocking all the wind out of him.

"I lost my parents, my friends, and my life... fuck you." Kite looked over Sora, who was hunched over, gasping for air.

"Kite, why did you do that!" Raine yelled, she ran over to Sora, "are you ok?"

"WHY DO YOU CARE RAINE!" Kite snapped at her, "He had the power to save our world, we sent our first distress signals two months ago, and for two months he didn't send us a single Keyblade wielder, he's just a spoiled hero." Kite started rummaging around the room looking for his clothes, in a nearby closet he found his Katana, on the shelf folded up was his school uniform. He looked back over to Sora who was struggling regain his breath. Kite threw the uniform top over his shoulder and put on the pants, the rage inside him was boiling, all his hatred was being thrust at Sora. Suddenly the door burst open.

"MASTER!" Rei shouted as he saw Sora hunched over.

"Did that kid do that to you?" Rikti glared at Kite.

"What if I did," Kite laughed, the chains on his arm started to pulsate with dark energy. A stream of black and purple fire spiraled up his arm, the chains on his hand spasmed erratically, a dark grin came over Kite's face.

"Master, I'll subdue him," Rikti stated, calling forth his Keyblade, DrakeLance, resembling a broadsword with draconic wings guarding the hilt.

"Kite... please don't," Raine muttered.

"Before this proceeds any further," Sora said, standing up straight, composure regained, "what is it that drives you at this point?"

"Vengeance," Kite grinned, and with that word, his Keyblade appeared in his hand, wreathed in the same flames that spiraled up his arms.

"Against me?" Sora responded.

"No, something much bigger than you."

"Master, he's calling upon Darkness, what will you have us do?" Rei looked over to Sora.

"Just let him blow off some steam, I'm sure you two can handle it," Sora said as he walked out of the small house.

"Y..Yessir," Rei said as he summoned Dragonfang, gripping it with both hands.

"I'll have you know we are Master Sora's top pupils, so you best prepare yourself," Rikti said calmly.

Kite dropped his stance into a lower position, putting all his strength and weight into his legs, "Just means this will hurt your pride more than your bodies." His body was fully wreathed in flames, and from the embers forged dark pauldrens and greaves with vicious spikes.

Kite glared at the Keybladers in front of him as he unsheathed his Katana. The flames of darkness engulfed the blade as well, "so, we gonna play or not?"

Rikti got into position, clenching his left fist, the leather glove he wore crunched while he held is Keyblade in front of him. Rei shifted his feet around, getting a better footing, then leaped off towards Kite, keyblade raised and ready to strike. Kite jumped back, the force of Rei's Keyblade broke through the wooden floor, Rikti quickly ran up behind him and sprung off Rei's back. He swung his arm at Kite, landing a solid blow on Kite's face. Stumbling back, Kite lifted up his left arm, and a pillar of black flames shot up at Rikti.

"AUGH!" Rikti yelled as he recoiled from the darkness, "Rei, attack together!"

Rei nodded and charged at Kite, his Keyblade drug across the ground and ignited in azure flames. He swung upward in an arc towards Kite, the blade grazed him, but he felt the cold sting of the blue fire. Rikti quickly got behind Kite and took a sweep at his legs, knocking him off balance, but as he feel, Rikti followed his strike with an upward cut of his Keyblade. Kite quickly turned and blocked Rikti's blade mid swing, planting his feet on the grounded blade, he vaulted off, flipping over Rei. Unable to turn around in time, Rei suffers a barrage of blows to the back, sending him to the ground.

"Kite... please... you need to stop," Raine muttered again, watching helplessly from the other side of the room.

Rikti bullrushed Kite, knocking him through the door of the house, onto the streets, people had gathered outside to investigate the commotion. Kite back on to his feet, "The house was getting cramped anyway," he laughed. The crowd around him backed away, fearing the dark powers that were surrounding his body.

"Civilians, please clear out!" Rei commanded from the doorway of the house, "Rikti, should we still press the offensive?"

"Varied tactics are our best bet, our foe is smarter than a Heartless," Rikti responded, never taking his eyes of Kite. Grinning, Kite leapt back and threw his Keyblade at Rikti, but grabbed the chain just before contact, as he touched the ground, he lifted up his arm and started swinging the chain in circles, creating a wide arc of flames.

"CMON! You can't hope to put me down if you don't strike!" Kite taunted, he was completely confident in the power that was slowly consuming him. Rei placed his Keyblade at his waist, holding it like a sheathed blade and widened his stance, he glared at Kite. Timing himself perfectly, he darts forward and draws his Keyblade, slashing Fate's Aligned off its path, sending it to the ground. Rikti followed suit and charged Kite, weapon drawn and took a swing, hitting center mass, causing Kite to stumble back. Kite called back the chains, bringing his Keyblade to his hand. He panted heavily, his wounds barely had the time they needed to heal, but the darkness kept fueling his anger. Rikti charged as Kite was off guard, letting loose a fierce pendulum kick followed by a slash with his Keyblade, knocking Kite back further.

"It's working Rei, keep pressing the offensive," Rikti commanded, Rei nodded, then made a wide arc around Kite, hoping to situate himself behind him.

Kite jumped onto the roof of a nearby building, his rage had consumed him, he looked down at his opponents, "THIS ISN'T THE END!" he yelled, throwing away his Katana and gripping Fates Aligned with both hands, a torrent of dark energy sprang forth from the blade. He reered back his arm, then threw the Keyblade at Rikti, with a few motions from his wrist, it completely wrapped around him, making him drop his own Keyblade. Kite yanked his arm back, pulling Rikti towards him. Throwing his free arm back, Kite summoned a black orb of fire into his hand, a sinister smile spread across his face, he extended his hand to Rikti, "DARK FIRA-" he started to yell.

"KITE, YOU HAVE TO STOP THIS!" Raine yelled from the house.

The dark aura around Kite faded as he snapped out of his rage, the fire dissapearing from his had and the chains unraveling from Rikti, "w..what have I done," he uttered as he stared at Rikti and Rei with disbelief. His keyblade vanished as he turned around and bolted off as fast as he could, trying desperately to get away from what he had just done.

Rei started to chase after him but stopped, "Let him go Rei, he's done," Rikti said, gasping for breath before he collapsed to the ground.

Kite had ran several blocks before he came to the Bailey, the Waterfalls of Old Radiant Gardens has long since been rebuilt. Falling to his knee's from exhaustion, he slammed his right arm against the ground, and clutched the spiraling chains. "WHAT ARE YOU!" he yelled sobbing, "I... That power wasn't even my own, h..how?" From behind him he heard an unearthly noise, like a tear through the walls of space, he turned around to see a rather tall cloaked figure.

"Quite the display back there you know," the figure said clapping.

Kite struggled to get back up, his knee's buckling under him, "Who are you?"

"Oh, I am no one worth mentioning, but if you wish to call me something, call me X" he chuckled.

"Well then.. X... what do you want with me?"

"You have so much potential child, I want to make sure it is used correctly," X stepped towards Kite, hands up in a cautioning manner.

"You don't need to be careful... I can't even fight back in this state," Kite sighed.

"Yes, I saw, was that your first time channeling darkness?"

"If you could call that channeling... I didn't even feel like myself," Kite muttered.

"Darkness tends to do that, don't let your rage consume you, you must discipline yourself to use it to its full potential," X snickered, "Your power lies in those chains, linking everything that is both known and unknown together, tied to threads of darkness."

"Myromex, you've gone out of line," an unfamiliar feminine voice said from afar.

"Oh Lexlyk, wonderful of you to join us, I was just telling my friend here the basics of darkness, something I'm sure you know all about my dear," X snickered.

Lexlyk's long curly black hair bounced on her tan shoulders, she wore a coat similar to X's, but it was completely unzipped, showing off her short dress that she wore underneath. She turned to Kite and let out a gasp, "H..his son?"

"Oh, you know him?" X said with a tone of delight.

Kite got to his knees, "and just who are you?"

Lexlyk glared at him, shivers ran down Kite's spine, "that's enough out of you boy, Myromex, the Superior has called for you, you are to return to base immediately, don't make me ask again."

"Oh, lets be civil here in front of our friend, The Forgotten Shadow should be sympathetic to someone new to the darkness, shouldn't she?" M snickered.

Lexlyk scowled, "Lets go Myromex," she said as she turned around, a portal of darkness opened up in front of her, quickly engulfing her.

"It seems our time must be cut short, but I will see you again," X laughed as he turned away, he lifted his hand up and snapped his fingers, another portal opened and engulfed him.

Kite looked down at his hand, he felt a faint pulse from the chains, as if they knew what he was thinking. Footsteps echoed from the falls behind him, he turned around to see Raine, running towards him.

"Kite.." she said, stopping to catch her breath.

"Why did you follow me?"

"I had to make sure you were ok."

Kite looked at his right arm, "No, I'm not ok, I need to leave this place Raine, and I need to be alone," he said with a solemn face.

"W..why?"

"I'm dangerous with these chains, I need to learn to control them, I won't let you get hurt by me," Kite looked away.

"No Kite.. y..you can't just leave, you're the only person I have left.. I.. I need you," Raine said, tears welling up.

"I'm sorry Raine," Kite said, bringing her face up to meet his, "I'll see you soon enough," with a weak smile Kite lifted up his arm, and snapped his fingers. Behind him a portal of darkness opened, with dark tendrils creeping towards Kite. Stepping back, the darkness consumed him as he passed through the Dark Corridor.

"B..but I love you," Raine said, tears streaking down her face.

PROLOGUE END


	2. Warbringers Prologue

Kingdom Hearts

Keyblade Chronicles

Warbringer

As he looked down at the faces of his wife and daughter, tears streamed down his face. "Thanatos... you." Pipkin wheezed, "You have... to end the pain." He couldn't keep it together, their bodies had been mutated from the years of radiation, clean air was like poison to them. He pulled out his pistol, and sobbed as he loaded a round into the chamber.

"I... I'm so sorry Pip, we never should have left," he said, hands trembling as he placed the barrel on her temple. He couldn't bring himself to squeeze the trigger, the burden of killing the only friend and lover, he ever knew was too much to bear. His daughter, Moxie, screamed in her mother's arms, writhing in pain. Streams of blood came from every orifice on Pipkin's face.

"I love... you," she said, smiling weakly, and at that, Thanatos pulled the trigger. The sound quickly jolted him from his sleep, sweat pouring down his face, fogging up the goggles of his gasmask.

"Why does that dream still haunt me," he thought to himself as he drug himself out of bed. His dogtags clanked as he shuffled around his bunker, looking for the rest of his clothes, "running low on food again," he thought as he let out a sigh. He located his coat and combat boots and quickly put them on, trying to shake off the dream that he'd been having for years. He opened his last can of beans, way past expiration date, he devoured them as quickly as he could through the nozzle on his mask. They tasted like shit, but it wasn't the flavor he wanted, everything had tasted like shit to him for years, all he wanted was the fuel to make it to the next day.

He examined his gun rack, all were present and accounted for, but his ammunition was running low on his trench gun and pistol, "Looks like I get to play marksmen today," he sighed as he grabbed his hunting rifle and a few rounds. He picked up the crowbar near the door on his way out and put it in his belt loop, opened the door and walked into the harsh Wasteland of Chernobyl.

The radiated air hit him like a ton of bricks as it washed into his bunker, but he didn't care, it was just another day in his personal hell of survival. He hadn't seen another human in years since his wife died, but it didn't bother him, he had lost all sense of humanity, the only emotions he felt were when he had to relive that awful moment every night in his dreams. Outside was the same barren landscape he had always known, his memory of before the Reactor blew had hazed over the years, all he knew was that this is how lived, day in, day out. He tightened the strap the kept his rifle on his shoulder and took his first step out into the wasteland. Over the years he had scavenged almost all he could from the surrounding areas, food was becoming scarce, he had to expand his searches which put him at more and more risk, he wasn't the only person that had adapted to the radiation, the animals of the area had gained some tricks of their own.

He climbed one of the nearby buildings to get a good vantage point of the surrounding area, all looked clear, but looks are deceiving, the animals have learned to camouflage themselves against the ruined buildings and dead earth. All seemed clear until he saw a pack of wild dogs, heavily mutated and barely resembling their less evolved cousins. He pulled the scope to his rifle out of his pocket and screwed it on. After smashing a window, he sets the barrel on the windowsill and looked down the scope. The dogs heard the noise, but didn't pay much attention. He fixed his sights on the leader, exhaled, then went to pull the trigger, but as soon as he put pressure on it, his wife's dying face flashed before him, he jolted back and fired, missing the dogs, they scattered before he could re-chamber and fire again.

"God... fucking dammit," he cursed under his breath. He stood up and slung his rifle back over his shoulder and descended down the stairs of the building. He pulled out a crude map of the area with all the grocery stores and convenience stores scratched off. The closest one had to be ten miles out, and with no transportation, that would take him a good two hours on foot, and he was hesitant about risking the dangers that lay ahead.

Hours passed until he reached the nearest store. The door had fused itself shut, but that was no problem for his crowbar. He took it out of his belt and smashed through the glass door, shattering it in one swing. The alarms would have gone off had the power not been disabled years ago, but still, noise could be heard from inside the store. The scurrying of rats was a common sound, but these sounded bigger, otherworldly even. The store was dark, but there was a faint glow in the back isles. Thanatos flicked the night vision and unslung his rifle, and stepped forward cautiously. As he neared the back isles, he saw something he could never have prepared himself for. In front of him floated a white dragons head, with a wisp like trail behind it, slowly flying through the isles, as he looked around, he noticed more of the soft glows from other parts of the store. He looked around and weighed his options.

"This can't be a mutation, it's... just not possible," he thought to himself, just then, he heard the sound of glass breaking. He immediately took aim at the door, but what he saw shocked him even more. Before him was a young woman, wearing a black Victorian era dress, tears streaming from her eyes, her long brown hair almost completely obscuring her facial features.

"So," she started, "You are the one with so much sadness that drew me here."

"Who are you?" he replied, gun fixed on her head.

"Your lover died by your hands years ago and you cannot get over that grief," She said, Thanatos noticed more of the flying serpents coming from behind her.

"How do you know that?" He looked at her, perplexed as to how a complete stranger knew anything about him, he had been alone for years.

"That sorrow brought me here, I've come to offer you release," she says, moving forward, slowly, but with each step almost gliding towards him. As she got closer, he noticed an eight pointed star, seemingly stitched into her clothing.

Thanatos blew a warning shot at her feet, "I asked how do you fucking know that?"

"Do not stress, all of it can go away, just accept the sweet release of death in my arms," the tears on her face in a constant stream, she seemed to pull a scythe out of thin air.

"I won't die, not by anyone's hand," he yelled, and with new resolve too aim at her chest and fired. The round looked as if it had hit the target, but she seemed unphased.

"Why won't you accept this gift?" She said as she stopped advancing, a confused look on her face.

"You don't know what I've been through," He said, gritting his teeth, re-chambering a round and firing again, this time at her face, but as before, the round seems to phase through her.

The tears on her face turn a crimson shade, "If you won't surrender, I'll just kill you and take your essence by force!"

Thanatos dropped his rifle as soon as she started closing in, deeming it useless so far, and pulled out his crowbar. As the woman raised her scythe he quickly swiped at her with the hooked end, bringing the the scythe to the ground, and immediately threw a punch to her face. This one landed, he felt that, but she still seemed to just shrug it off.

"The fuck are you made of bitch?" he cursed at her, trying with all his might to keep her scythe down as she struggled. He was using all his strength against her, but it seemed fruitless. She broke free of his efforts and slashed at his chest, blood dotted the floor as he regained his balance. He clutched his wound, then charged at her. Wildly swinging his crowbar, all emotion left his body, all he knew now was that he needed to survive. She barely fended off the assault, blocking each strike, but slowly losing strength with each one. Thanatos noticed this and quickly sweeped her feet out from under her. Knocked off balance, she fell to the floor, and his crowbar was not far behind. He felt the smash of her ribs as it collided with her, he could see the damage it did, he knew she wasn't shrugging this one off, but the pain from his own wound was almost unbearable. The woman got up, grasping he crushed ribs.

"Where did you get this resolve?" she said, looking at him with disbelief.

Thanatos coughed a little, "I told you, I won't die," he said as he staggered over to her, his wound seemed deeper than it actually was, and the pain was almost too much.

"No matter, time to finish you," She says coldly, holding up her scythe, but as soon as she starts to swing down she stops dead in her tracks. "H..he's here," she said with a look of fear, then turning back to Thanatos, "I'll come again for you in time." and with that she dissapeared into a dark corridor.

Thanatos dropped to his knees from the pain, the would had opened more during the fight, and he was quickly bleeding out. He searched frantically for some cloth or other makeshift medical supplies to stop the bleeding. Nearby was some frayed cloth from curtains, he immediately grabbed them and tied it around his chest in an attempt to stop the bleeding. The room around him was growing darker, he didn't know if it were just the time of day, or his life, but he knew he had to get out of this store, it was defenseless, and he knew he couldn't survive the night here. He made his way to the door and looked outside, he noticed an unusual amount of shade. The shadows on the ground moved, and from them grew small ant like creatures composed of darkness. Thanatos quickly jumped back into the store where he had dropped him gun. As he grabbed his rifle, he noticed more shadows moving on the ground, almost completely enveloping the store.

"It's turning out to be a really shitty day," Thanatos said with a grin as he attempted to run out of the store. Several shadows grabbed at his feet, but were no match for his crowbar, they dissipated instantly. Outside more and more of these creatures flocked, in all different shapes and sizes. He chambered a round into his rifle and fired at a few of the creatures, instantly destroying a few that were conveniently grouped together, he pulled the bolt and fired at a larger one, ripping a hole through it's side. Rage filled Thanatos as a black aura surrounded him, he felt unstoppable, but the pain was still there, he knew this could be his last fight. A few of them had gotten up close, but were quickly dispatched when they met the butt of his rifle. Several of the creatures had maneuvered themselves behind him and were attacking his back, their slashes leaving cuts that burned like acid. He quickly turned around and ripped right through them with his crowbar, but it seemed heavy as the blood loss started to kick in, no amount of rage fueled power could convince him otherwise, he was injured, and he knew it. The world around him was fading fast as he succumbed to the darkness, but off in the distance he saw a person running towards him with an odd sword in hand. Cutting through the creatures. "Man I could use a friend right now." he said the world darkened around him.

Thanatos woke up hours later, sitting against a tree, the wound his chest had healed almost completely, all that remained were a few twinges of pain when he breathed. A few feet away he saw a young boy with blonde spiky hair and what looked like a school uniform with a katana at his side and a peculiar glove on his right hand. The boy noticed the movement and turned around.

"Hey, good to see you come too, you were in a pretty bad spot," he said, extending his hand to help Thanatos up, "My names Kite."

Thanatos looked at him in disbelief, "Thanks for the help," he muttered through his gasmask.

"Whats your name?" Kite said, hand still extended.

Thanatos didn't know what to say, the only person he had ever given his name too was Pipkin, so he thought for a moment, "Uhm... just call me Warbringer," he said with a resigned tone of voice, "Did you fight all those creatures off?"

"Huh, yeah, I don't know what brought the Heartless here, but its a good thing I got here, you almost died," Kite replied with a serious tone. Warbringer looked back at him and finally grabbed onto his hand and hoisted himself to his feet.

"How did my wound close so fast?" Warbringer said, examining himself, all that was left was a giant scar where the scythe had cut through him.

"This isn't a connected world is it?" Kite asked him.

"What do you mean 'connected'?"

"Those creatures were called heartless, they prey on the darkness of people's hearts, and if you've never seen them before, you must not know about the worlds."

"Just... tell me what you mean," Warbringer said impatiently.

"There are an infinite number of worlds out there, all with different people and laws, no two worlds are the same, and each of those worlds has a heart, something the Heartless wish to consume, but ten years ago... a "great hero" named Sora vanquished the heartless from the worlds with a Keyblade," and as Kite said the word Keyblade he summoned his own, Warbringer looked at with intrigue. "Long story short, this is the only weapon that can kill a Heartless. All the worlds that were hit by the heartless became connected to one another, opening routes too and from other worlds, giving the options to share technologies and magic with one another," kite rifled through one of his pockets and pulled out a vial of green liquid, "this is the potion I used on you, when ingested it heals minor wounds, lucky I had one, you might have died without it."

"Thanks," Warbringer said looking away, he wasn't used to help or compassion, it was almost alien to him.

"So, where do you live? I can take you home if you want," Kite said, looking around.

"About two hours southwest of here."

Kite looked around at the ruined buildings and dead flora, "so, now that you're awake, I have to ask, what happened to this world?"

"Reactor blew up, nuclear explosion, not much else to say," Warbringer said, devoid of emotion as he started to check himself to see if he were missing anything.

"Uhm, forgive me for asking, but whats 'nuclear'?"

"Its a type of power generated from the splitting of atoms."

"Ah, ok then," Kite said, not wanting to get more into things he didn't understand. The two walked almost silently for hours until Warbringer spoke up.

"Fuck, I forgot to grab food."

"Oh, is that what you were doing in that store?" Kite asked.

"Yeah, my supplies are low, probably have another two or three days if I ration it out right," Warbringer said as he stopped at the abandoned building above his bunker, "This is my place, not much, but... I guess it's home," he said, rifling through his pockets, looking for something, "Fuck everything, my keys must have fallen out during that fight," he said, resting his head up to the locked door.

"Hold on, I can take care of this," Kite said summoning his keyblade, he tapped it on the door, and you could hear the tumblers aligning and unlocking.

"Thanks," Warbringer said opening the door. As Kite stepped into the dirty bunker he had a lood around, countless gun parts and ammunition cases were sprawled over the floor and on deskes, empty cans of food. "So," Warbringer started, "how did you get here anyway?"

"Well, I came through a dark corridor, its a method of traveling between worlds, but this was not at all where I thought I would end up, I was chasing a figure that I saw in Radiant Gardens."

"Is that another world?"

"Its like the central hub for travelers, along with Twilight and Traverse Town, I was brought there after my world was destroyed." Kite said, balling his hand into a fist.

"I'd like to know more about the worlds beyond, if you don't mind," Warbringer asked. All through the night Kite explained of the worlds he had read about, and the terrors that lurked in them.

The next day Kite readied his things, "It was good to meet you, I hope you stay well, this world looks tough," he said as he snapped his fingers and opened a dark corridor.

Warbringer stood up, "Let me go with you, I have nothing here," he said.

"Are you sure, the worlds beyond are full of things you've never seen before."

Warbringer got all of his guns and equipment into a bag, "Some culture shock might do me some good."

Kite sighed then smiled, "Alright, it is nice to have a friend."

Warbringer's Prologue

END


	3. Ayame and Kanes Prologue

Keyblade Chronicles

Ayame and Kane

The Prologue

Ayame woke up to the sound of her alarm clock. She sat up in her bed and yawned, rubbing her eyes to shake off the sleepiness. She had an hour to get ready for school, it was her senior year at Dusk Town Public School. She walked over to her vanity mirror, her hair was all tussled from sleep. She put her hair into two pigtails, with her blond and pink streaked hair resting on her cheeks. Bags formed under her green and blue eyes, she never slept too well, the sound of her sister coughing constantly in the other room made sure of that. Her sister had contracted the sickness that Dusk Town was infamous for, an incurable illness with no clue as to how it is caused. Ayame walked over to her sisters room and knocked on the door.

"Karine, are you ok?" she asked through the door, all she heard in response was a fit of coughing. "Mom's going to be working late again, just... stay in bed, I have to go to school, there should be some soup in the fridge," Ayame told her. She went back into her room and put on her clothes for the day and walked downstairs. As she looked out her window, she noticed her friend Kane's car sitting outside. "He must have had a bad night," she sighed as she went to the backdoor. In her yard was a treefort she and Kane had built years ago in their childhood, they had known eachother since preschool, and have been inseparable since. She opened the door and walked outside, "Kane, you up there?" she shouted up to the tree. Moments later Kane showed his face and waved, his long black hair in a ponytail with his usual set of goggles resting on his forehead.

"Yo," he said sleepily, still waving at her, a half smile lining his face.

"Your dad in one of his moods again?"

"Yeah, work laid him off, I just couldn't stay there with him."

"I'm so sorry Kane," Ayame said looking at the ground.

"Shit happens," Kane sighs, hoisting himself down from the treefort, "Need a ride to school? I don't have work till later today."

Ayame looked back up and smiled, "Yeah, thanks, let me just check up on Karine again."

"The medicine not helping at all?" Kane said.

Ayame knew the sickness was a tender subject for Kane, his mother died from it years ago, "Not really, the coughing still keeps us all up at night."

"Yeah, I figured, alright, go check on her, and if she's up, tell her I said 'hi'."

"Will do," Ayame smiled.

"I'll be at my car, and I have a funny story for when you get back." He laughed.

Ayame went back inside and walked up the stairs to her sisters room. She opened the door nad peered inside, her sister was asleep on the bed. Ayame sat at the edge of her bed and stroked her hair, Karine's breathing was heavy. "We'll get you a cure," Ayame said as she leaned over to kiss her sister on the forehead. She stood up and walked out of the house grabbing her back and school bag and met Kane at his car.

"SO, see this bashed in window," Kane said pointing at his back window.

Ayame gasped, "Dude, what happened?"

"Apparently someone broke into my car a few nights ago, but they didn't steal anything, actually, they left a net in there," He motions her to look in his backseat, "Look, there's a net in here."

Ayame looked back at him in disbelief, "Are you shitting me?"

"Nope, Im totally serious, and don't sit on it, I might be able to use it for something."

"So Kane, remember that book of magic I found in the library,' Ayame asked on their way to school.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, I actually think I have one the spells down," she exclaimed. Pulling up her left hand, she put all of her concentration in her palm.

"Uhm, Ayame, what are you doing," Kane asked, slightly worried. The car started to heat up as Ayame concentrated harder and harder.

"Almost... there," she said in between breaths, small flashes could be seen emiting from her hand, like the sparks when flint collides with steel.

"Ayame, stop, I'm driving," Kane exclaimed.

"I've got it... under control," and as her sentence ended, a small flame was conjured in her palm, no more the three inches wide, just dancing in her hand. "See, I got it," she turned to him smiling, but as soon as her concentration broke the flame made a small explosion, cause Kane to swerve onto the side of the road. A loud boom was heard as his car collided with the curb.

"Dammit Aya," he said as he rested his head on the steering wheel.

"I'm so sorry Kane, are you hurt, is the car ok?"

Kane opened the door and checked the car out, "Seems the tire blew, looks like we're walking," he sighed.

"Kane, I'm really sorry," Ayame repeated.

"Water under the bridge I guess, lets just get you to school," Kane walked over and locked his car door. He motioned for Ayame to follow as he started walking down the street. Ayame grabbed her things from the car and followed.

"So, where are we?" Ayame looked around.

"Looks like we're near the Air-Ship Docks." The docks were suspended over the Dusk Town lake, it was never very busy, not many people wanted to come to Dusk Town in fear of the sickness, and the prices to get out were too steep for anyone in the middle class to afford. Ayame and Kane walked up to the gates to see the Gummi ships, there were about three in total.

"I wonder if they have the sickness on other worlds," Ayame sighed.

"No, but that is where the cure can be found," a voice spoke up from behind them. Kane turned around, there was a tall man in a long white lab coat with a peculiar glove on his left hand with white chains that spiraled up his arm. His hair was slicked back but his Grey hairs could show through, his gaze was piercing through his glasses.

Ayame looked at him with hope, "what do you mean? Are you from another world?"

The man looked at her with cold indifference, "One question at a time child."

"Who are you is a good start," Kane interjected.

"I am, a traveler of worlds, collector of knowledge, destiny's messenger so to speak." the mysterious man answered.

"Do you know the cure?" Ayame asked, wide eyed.

The man smiled at her, "Yes, but the means to obtain it cannot be found on this world."

"What do you mean?" Ayame begged.

"I cannot give you all the answers, those are for you to find yourself," The man turned around and walked away, "Tomorrow the ship known as Olympian will take off, there is a back entrance which they will be loading cargo into, stow away and your answers can be found."

Kane looked to Ayame, "I don't know if we should listen to him Aya." Ayame looked back at him sighing deeply.

"It may be the only chance I have to save my sister," she turned back around to talk to the man, but he had vanished."Where did he go?"

"I don't know, but he made some good points, maybe we do need to go off world for the cure." Ayame looked at the ground, lost in her own thoughts.

"How can I leave my sister though," Ayame shook her head.

"She'll die if we don't get a cure Aya," Kane put his arm around her, "it may be our best bet."

"Alright," Ayame sighed, "Then lets gather our things together, I'll have to leave a note for my mom, I hope Karine will be ok."

That night Ayame got home to her mother passed out on her recliner couch, it was late, she stayed after school with Kane to plan for the trip, he had missed work that day and was fired, he had resolved to leave but Ayame still had her ties. Her mother worked tirelessly to afford the medication for Karine and to keep themselves in a comfortable environment. Ayame went upstairs to Karine's room and opened the door. Inside she could hear Karine wheezing faintly. Ayame walked up to the bed and sat next to her, she caressed her cheek softly.

"Karine, I'm going to be going away to look for a cure, I need you to be strong," she said with a trembling voice. Karine rolled over on her side as Ayame lifted her hand from her cheek. She went back to her room and gathered her things, she looked down at her spellbook, "Something tells me the library won't be able to do much if I leave town." Her phone started to ring, it was Kane. "Hey Kane."

"Aya, things kinda went bad when I told my dad that I was leaving, mind if we set out early?"

Ayame looked around, "Yeah, just let me get some things together. Meet at the treehouse?"

"Sure." Kane hung up.

Ayame frantically gathered her things in a single backpack and walked out her door. As she walked down the stairs, she heard her mother clear her throat.

"Where are you going Aya?" her mother asked.

"I..I'd rather not talk about it mom," Ayame said avoiding eye contact.

"I figured you'd run off with Kane someday, you two have always been so close."

"It's not like that mom, I.. I just need to do this."

"I hope you find the cure, I really do," her mother said with a smile.

"How did you know?"

"A mother always knows, don't work too hard hun, and be safe." Ayame ran up and hugged her mother.

"Thank you, I'll come back with the cure," she told her mother.

"I know you will, now go before I have a chance to change my mind."

As Ayame stepped outside she saw Kane walking up her lawn, it was late, almost midnight. "Hey, are you all ready?" Ayame asked.

Kane shifted the backpack, "yup, yourself?"

Ayame slung her backpack onto her arm, "uh huh, so, how long should it take to get to the docks?"

"Probably an hour by foot, it was the Olympian, correct?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure." Ayame looked back at her house, her mother was standing in the doorway.

Kane looked back at Ayame and then to her mother, "Don't worry, I'll keep her safe."

After an hour of walking, they reached the docks. The Olympian stood out among the rest, obviously not owned by anyone local traders, it seemed to be a supply transport Gummi, and like the mysterious man had said, the back hatch was open and unguarded.

"Well, I guess this is it," Ayame said with a gulp, stepping towards the Olympian.

"We got this Aya," Kane said grinning.

Ayame sighed, "Yeah." As they closed in Ayame noticed some coordinates on the crates outside of the Olympian, "Kane, do you know these coordinates?"

Kane walked over and took a look, "No, I can't really say I do," he laughed, "but does it matter? Gummi transport is a lot cheaper off this world, so if we land somewhere sucky, we can just buy a ticket and get off."

"I guess you're right," Ayame said as she walked up the ramp into the ship, inside were crates of many sizes, "Kane, I think we need to make some room for us to hide in." Kane nodded his head and boarded the cargo hold.

"Hmmm, these don't seem too heavy," Kane said as he started pushing the boxes around to make a niche for them to hide in. Ayame slumped her bag off her shoulder and onto the floor and walked around, the cargo bay was rather spacious, but didn't seem to have any entrances to the other sections of the ship. "All done Aya," Kane said, sitting in a hollowed out cornerspace, "see, its like a pillow fort... made of crates."

Ayame laughed and walked over, "I brought some food, care for a snack?"

"Might as well," Kane said leaning against the wall, "Not very comfortable, but at least the ride is free."

Ayame pulled out a bag of chips and some sandwiches, "Yeah, I just hope we're doing the right thing," she said as she grabbed her spellbook and flipped through the pages.

"Yknow the Librarian is gonna hunt you down for that," Kane laughed.

"Yeah, if she can find me, plus, I can just shoot her with a fireball if she does," Ayame joked.

The two talked for several hours until they eventually passed out.

Hours later they were awoken by a sudden jolt all over the ship.

"What... what the hell just happened?" Kane said groggily, standing up, he saw that the cargo hold had been thrown around, crates tossed over, showing their contents

"Kane, do you think the ship crashed?" Ayame asked as she got to her feet. She surveyed the damage, there were several cracks in the hatch door.

"I don't know," Kane hopped over the crates and started sifting through the crates.

"What are you looking for?"

"I don't know, weapon or something, if we did crash, this World probably isn't safe," Kane's face lit up as he examined one of the crates, inside was several Nightsticks and other bludgeoning tools, "I think I found em."

Ayame went over to the cracked hatch and looked through, she turned around and her face was pale as a ghost, "Kane... I.. I think you need to see this."

"What is it?" Kane said after he had grabbed two of the nightsticks, holding them like tonfa's, he walked over. As he peered through the hull he saw a dark sky with a ominous purple orb hovering above what looked like a destroyed city. "T..this is a dying world..."

Ayame went over the hanger door release pad, "Alright, Kane, I'm going to open the door, get ready."

"Yeah, I'll get right on that," Kane said as he brought the nightsticks up and a fighting stance. Ayame started pressing the buttons and steam shot from the vents as the hatch unhinged. Banging could be heard from the other side of the hull.

"Kane, I'm starting to second guess our choices here."

"I know the feeling." As the hatch slowly lowered, more of the world could be seen, the dark purple sky was more ominous than they could have imagined, aerial Heartless swarmed the sky's and shadow's were almost blanketing the everything within sight.

"Kane... how... how could this have happened?"

"Does it matter, we're here right now, grab yer spellbook, something tells me you're going to need it."

"What are we going to even do? Once this hatch comes down, its just us and the Heartless."

"We improvise," Kane sneered, Gunshots could be heard echoing throughout the streets, "See, there's our objective, Heartless can't shoot guns, am I right?"

"Alright, if you say so," Ayame clutched her spellbook, "Where can I find on of those sticks?"

"Couple crates back, get one quick!"

Ayame ran back and grabbed a nightstick, "Alright, got one."

"Just in time," Kane yelled as several Shadows manifested inside the cargo hold. He quickly flipped his tonfa's around, "Do or die time!" he yelled as he charged up, slamming both tonfa's into a shadow, dispersing it instantly. He turned around to look at Ayame, only to see a small fireball shoot past him.

"Don't get sloppy," Ayame said, hand extended, "you forgot about the others."

"Right, got anything that can wipe out a block?" Kane said as he turned around to fight off the Shadows.

Ayame flipped through the pages frantically, "No, I can only grasp so much, we'll have to make due with the basics."

Kane slammed his tonfa into a leaping Shadow, cleaving it in two, "and thats what I get for putting faith in you," he chuckled.

"Oh, fuck you, I saved your ass!"

"I know I know, we need to get out of this ship."

"Right," Ayame nodded as she started gesturing with her hands, small gusts of wind spiralled around her.

The Heartless were swarming at the hatch, "C'mon Aya, anytime now," Kane yelled, jumping back.

Ayame quickly opened her eyes, "Got it... AERO!" she yelled as a concentrated burst of air cleared the hatch, knocking the Shadows away. "C'mon Kane, lets move!" They both ran outside the ship to find that it had collided with a building, cockpit first, leaving no sign of survivors.

"The Heartless probably caused that," Kane said solemnly.

Ayame caught up to him panting, "Yeah, that wouldn't surprise me."

"You ok?"

"That last spell took a bit out of me... not exactly on my level." Overhead Wyverns starting circling around the two, preparing to dive.

"I got these Aya," Kane shouted as he crouched down, preparing to leap. One of the Wyverns swooped down and Kane saw his opening. He jumped up and slammed his foot onto the head of the oncoming Wyvern, propelling him higher towards the others, bashing one in the side before another dove into his ribcage, knocking him back to the ground.

"KANE!" Ayame yelled as she rushed over to Kane, laying helpless on the ground, she tossed her nightstick aside and gathered her magic into her hand, a soft blue light enveloped her palm. "You can't leave me here Kane, I swear to god!" she shouted as she held her hand over his waist, "CURE!" The Wyverns overhead has started circling Ayame and Kane, slowly descending. "Go away!" Ayame shouted, hand extended towards them, as a Wyvern swooped down, a blinding light shot forth from Ayame's palm. Quickly, she turned her head away from the light, as she looked back, she saw herself grasping a Keyblade, dark shades of purple and green in a pipelike shape. "A... a Keyblade?" she said with amazement, the Wyverns had retreated from the light and scattered.

Kane stirred beside her, "fuck that hurt," he groaned. Sitting up, he turned quickly to Ayame and his eyes widened, "Is that a Keyblade?"

"Poison Dusk," Ayame said under her breath.

"What?"

"Poison Dusk, that's its name," she replied, staring intently at her new weapon.

"Well, whatever its called, it came just in time." Kane said pointing at something in the horizon.

Ayame turned, and off in the distance rose a Heartless the size of a building, " a Darkside!"

From not too far away, two figures watched the same Heartless rise over the skyline of this dying world.

PROLOGUE END


End file.
